Lift-off hinge assemblies are known in the art and are particularly useful for securing a door, cover or the like to a frame surface.
One problem associated with the use of such hinges, however, is the inability to adjust to accommodate door assemblies which employ gaskets or other seals between the frame and the door. In such circumstances, it is advantageous to have an adjustable hinge in order to accommodate a range of thickness of the gaskets and to maintain the gasket under compression even if it undergoes a change in thickness caused by its continuous compression during use.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lift-off hinge that is adjustable.
Adjustable hinges, as such, are known in the art and have been typically used on door assemblies which employ gaskets or other seals between the frame and the door.
One type of adjustable hinge utilizes lateral slots as mounting apertures for mounting a hinge knuckle to the closure member, thus permitting side-to-side adjustment of the knuckle which, in turn, varies the distance between the closure member and its frame.
Another known adjustable hinge employs a two-piece base assembly in which the base of the two-piece assembly is affixed to the closure member and second piece of the base is mounted to the first piece. The two pieces of the base are designed such that they are allowed to be adjusted with respect to each other before tightening.
Another type of hinge, though not "adjustable" employs shims which are used for spacing the axis of rotation from the frame.
It has been observed that a problem associated with the use of such hinges is that when adjustment of the hinge is desired, while the hinge is still supporting the door, it is very difficult due to the load of the door.
It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable hinge capable of being easily adjusted.
Another problem associated with the use of the prior art hinges is that because the hinge carries the load of the door during its adjustment, the resultant adjustment is oftentimes inaccurate such that the axis of rotation of the hinge is not parallel to the mounting surfaces of both the door and frame, causing binding of the door.
It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide an adjustable hinge capable of being accurately adjusted so as to prevent misalignment of the door.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon a further reading of the specification, including the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings and the appended claims.